Eurovision to be adapted for US

Last year’s Eurovision was held in Portugal and won by Israel

Nordic Entertainment Group (NENT) and its Brain Academy subsidiary are planning a US version of the Eurovision Song Contest after securing the rights to the competition from the European Broadcasting Union (EBU).

NENT and Brain Academy are aiming to have the American Song Contest on air in 2021. Whether the competition will see cities, states or larger regions of the US do battle has yet to be revealed.

Launched in 1956, the Eurovision Song Contest airs on public broadcasters across Europe every May. Each qualifying nation puts forward a song to be performed in a live show, with the winner decided by a cross-continent public telephone vote plus a panel of judges from each country.

The team behind the American Song Contest project includes some of Europe’s most experienced TV producers. Brain Academy CEO and creative director Peter Settman and head of TV format development Anders Lenhoff will work alongside Christer Björkman and Ola Melzig, who have worked on more than 20 Eurovision Song Contests between them.

Brain Academy will develop, manage and coordinate the project for the US market in cooperation with the EBU.

Settman said: “Outside of sports, the Eurovision Song Contest is the biggest TV show on Earth. It unites a continent and everybody gets to vote. We can’t wait to introduce this wonderful competition to the biggest TV market in the world.”